Rand Paul walks tightrope to expand GOP's appeal

Rand Paul cracks jokes about smoking pot. He says the GOP needs to bring minorities and “people with ponytails” into the fold. The Kentucky senator doesn’t back gay marriage, but he’s not out beating the drums against it, either. And he’s advocated cutting defense spending.

Not exactly the typical profile of a Republican standard-bearer. But that appears to be precisely Paul’s gambit for a possible presidential bid in 2016: that he can remake the party’s traditional coalition, engaging younger and minority voters without alienating the older, whiter and more conservative demographics that typically decide the Republican nomination.

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It’s a narrow tightrope for Paul to walk. Every break with his party on national security and foreign policy — and there have been several — threatens to make it that much harder for him to shed the isolationist tag in the eyes of the Republican establishment. Every entreaty to libertarian-leaning college students who adored his father, former Rep. Ron Paul, could complicate the task of creating some space from an element of the GOP regarded in some quarters as radical, even kooky.

But Paul’s success or failure could have big implications for a party that’s been watching young, urban and minority voters flock to the Democratic Party with no apparent counterstrategy. If he can make a dent in that Democratic coalition by using his libertarianism to woo young voters and others who don’t traditionally fall in the GOP camp, Paul could help his party forge a path back to the White House.

“He has a particular appeal to young people with libertarian views, about keeping government out of our lives … even in a Republican primary he might get a strong share” of that vote, said longtime GOP strategist Charlie Black, who has worked on presidential campaigns for Republicans including Sen. John McCain and President George W. Bush. At the same time, Black added that Paul’s views are “out of step on foreign policy and national security with the mainstream Republican Party.”

Even as the national mood swings away from interventionist approaches, Paul’s emphasis on privacy in national security debates, coupled with his inward-looking approach to foreign policy, gives pause to some party stalwarts.

“Clearly, everybody is tired of wars that seem to drag on and on,” said GOP strategist Whit Ayres. “On the other hand, a strong element of the Republican coalition believes America has both a moral and a self-defense obligation to lead in the world.”

Yet Paul’s more libertarian approach to those issues makes him stand out to young voters, an overwhelmingly Democratic demographic despite a recent poll showing President Barack Obama’s approval rating foundering with that group.

A report released earlier this year from the College Republican National Committee found that a hands-off position on global affairs and skepticism of defense spending — views espoused loudly by Paul — are embraced by young voters across the political spectrum.

“These voters were concerned that the U.S. was spending too much, and when asked what the country should cut first, defense – and to a lesser extent, foreign aid — emerged as the best places to start,” the report read, also noting that for an increasing segment of millennial voters, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are a distant memory.

Paul has distanced himself from the more controversial foreign policy views held by his father, but he also sees an opportunity to woo young voters over the privacy issues that surfaced following revelations this year about National Security Agency surveillance.

When asked during a brief interview how he will seek to engage young people as he takes his next political steps, Paul said, “I think [by] talking about the right to privacy, and we’re going to continue working on that.”

Some data suggest Paul is on target. After revelations about the NSA’s broad surveillance powers broke last summer, support for Obama with people younger than 30 tumbled 17 points in a CNN poll in June. That issue creates an opening for Republicans to gain ground, according to Paul, who has blasted much of the NSA program as “unconstitutional.”

“Young people, they don’t really associate with Republicans on taxes and regulations. Not that they oppose us, they just don’t have any money so they don’t care much about those issues,” Paul said over the summer on “The Laura Ingraham Show.” “But they’ve all got a cellphone, they’re all on the Internet, they’re all concerned about Internet freedom — and they’re concerned about privacy. And these are precisely issues where we can grow our youth vote.”